The invention relates to a sternal retractor, intended more particularly for operations on the mammary arteries.
For surgical operations on the heart and the lungs, sternal retractors have been used for a very long time which are introduced between the two parts of the sternum after having cut it. The sides are then gradually separated by moving apart the two arms of the retractor by means of a rack. The valves mounted on the arms of such retractors fit over the sternum and the beginning of the ribs, the separation taking place in the plane of the rack parallel to the body of the patient in a latero-lateral way. Such retractors are perfectly suitable for operations on the heart and the aorta as well as on the lungs and neighboring regions.
However, following new medico-surgical treatments, operations are more and more often carried out on the mammary arteries particularly for coronary bridges. Now, these are situated on the internal face and on each side of the sternum and are therefore inaccessible when conventional retractors are used and it is difficult and dangerous to operate on said vessels.
So attempts have been made to perfect a sternal retractor adapted for this type of operation and it has been discovered that it is possible to separate the parts of the sternum not parallel to the body of the patient but by raising one with respect to the other anteo-posteriori, by using a sternal retractor of the invention. Retractors generally may also be called spreaders.